Miramare Resort And Spa

We've just returned from a very enjoyable stay at the Miramare, staying on a bed and breakfast basis. First impressions when we checked in very late on our first day was very good. The hotel was clean, smart and modern and being the only ones checking in this very quick. The hotel set into the hillside so you get some good exercise going to and from your room each day. If you are less mobile there is a buggy service to help you get around. There are also 3 pools so you're never that far from one. We preferred the large mid-level pool the most as it offered spectacular views and seemed less windy than the highest. All 3 pools are close to bars serving drinks and snacks We had a room overlooking the sea and with a large balcony. We were 2 adults and 2 children so having a separate bed room and two single beds in the living area suited us perfectly. There were two toilet/bathrooms which was a big help getting ready each day. The bathrooms well equipped with lots of toiletries and a hair dryer. The double bed was comfortable (with lots of pillows and bedding if required) but the use of the A/C system seemed to be restricted by the hotel so there was only power to the unit when the at certain times. It was really hot when we stayed and we had a few uncomfortable nights as a result. No complaints from the children who enjoyed having their own room. The room was cleaned daily to a good standard with lots of clean towels, including beach/pool towels. The breakfast was buffet style with lots of options hot and cold options. As a vegan I would of appreciated some plant based milks and a few more options but I never went hungry. The rest of my group looked forward to breakfast every day. We didn’t eat at any other times apart from a couple of snacks at the pool which were good. The hotel is close to couple of nice beaches and a couple of restaurants but the town is only a 15 minute walk away.

After a nine day tour of the Mainland, we arrived at 3 AM from Athens at the Mioramare due to the very early in the morning and late at night flight times available. We were tired. We met a very grumpy and rumpled man at the front desk, who without greeting us, immediately began demanding our credit cards and giving us a long list of additional charges we would have to pay to stay there (e.g., 3 euros a day to have a safe) beyond our previous full stay payment. We were exhausted after being on the road for many hours. I asked if we could please see the room and told him what we wanted in the room. He said it was too late for that, we would have to take the room on offer and move in the AM if the room was not acceptable. He sent us staggering up elevators, door corridors, and around buildings several blocks away in the resort in the dark with our luggage. We arrived in the dark at a room that was so small that we had to stack our luggage and edge around the bed. The room we were in had nothing to do with the room we were promised in our Booking.com booking. We had no idea where we were, so we decided to deal with it in the morning when the grumpy clerk had left. We were too tired to deal with this that night. In the morning, I pulled out the Booking.com statement of what we were getting and went down to the desk. I circled the many things we were supposed to be getting that were not in our tiny room. I expressed our concern that we had been tucked into a room that was simply available, but neither clean nor able to handle our several suitcases as well as two humans. I was told that all the rooms at that level of payment were identical. I was flabbergasted, as this was not what the Booking.com advertising and booking statement had said. I then gave them the Booking.com ad where I had circled the items our room did not have. They offered to show us around several other rooms, which were quite awful (poorly lit, grubby, badly located, strange smells, etc), if larger. These clearly were the rooms no one wanted.. Finally when we turned them down, they offered us a room on a higher level, which had a bedroom up 12 steps from the living room area. However, it was clean, a good size, and had a nice balcony. By this time we had lost our first morning in Agios Nickolaus, my husband and I were both discouraged from hours of looking at grim rooms, so we accepted it, although we are in our late 60s and early 70s and the steps to and from the bedroom from the bath on the ground floor were a real challenge and risk. We found the resort was mobbed with folks to enjoy the pools and spa, which were of little interest to us. We wanted to see Agios Nickolaus, the Cretan countryside, and the unfortunately not yet open archaeological museum. We found some pleasant walks in Agios Nickolaus, but would probably never return to either Miramare or Agios Nickolaus for its modest pleasures. Chania and Rethymnon are more to our tastes. While folks seem to love the all inclusive aspect of this hotel, we found the meals rushed, generic buffet meals with a million folks jockeying for food at the same time. The food was bland modern buffet style with runny eggs, tired fruit, tired yogurt, and the opening times were actually significantly later than listed--as while the doors were open at 7 AM, the food was not out. The lunches and dinners may have been better, but we did not want to pay a high amount to find out. If I remember correctly it was 26 euros a day or lunch or dinner. This was the only place in Greece in a total of 9 hotels where we actually encountered rude and grumpy staff. I should say that the room cleaning staff were lovely as were the restaurant staff and we had significant help from one young male staffer who showed us alternative rooms. Overall, the rooms were generic, the food was blah, and the distance to the interesting sites of Agios Nicholaus made it quite inconvenient. The staff seemed exhausted and overworked. This is a good hotel for folks who want to stay at a resort or spa and do nothing else, as it is a goodly walk into Agios Nickolaus and there is not regular form of transport there. This is not a good hotel for explorers, cultural travelers, or those who want to see Crete as it is too remote, regimented, and not terribly helpful.